What's Looking Exotic in October 2012

Thanks Bilbo, the echium is in the ground, so no chance of moving it inside, hence, hoping for a mild winter.

 

I read in one of our local papers that we're in for an unseasonably mild spell for a few days that will lull us into a false sense of security so to speak; today here was 19 degrees!!, but we're apparently in for another very cold winter........unfortunately , just hope they've got it wrong.

I grew some Echium Snow Tower in the ground once and successfully wrapped them up and got them through a cold winter, so its certainly possible

 

How can they possibly know? They don't. Stop buying that paper is the only way to send them a message not to make up stuff just to sell "copy". Where's that Rowan Atkinson sketch about The Devil when you need it?!!

 

Its a free paper....it gets shoved through the door whether we like it or not

Comes in handy in the guinea pigs hutches

I agree though with what your saying, most forecasters can't get this weeks weather right never mind the next few months, but there are those that will say they have a fair idea of what's coming, good luck to them..

I'll plan for tomorrow and maybe next week and we'll see how we go

 

I find minus 5 is the governing temperature regarding Echiums.
Anything lower, especially if wet, will cause the growing point to rot.
A nice sunny spot helps to raise daytime temperatures on those clear frosty spells,

 

Substitute Lawyers with Journalists . Picture quality rough, but its basically just dialogue.

 

Kristen - the last couple of years I sowed my Leonotis at the end of January in my light-box, then transferred them to the windowsill. I think the late ones that didn't do much were sown about the end of March.

Edit - only just seen your clip above - never seen it before

 

Thanks. I sowed mine on 18-Mar this year, they are 8' tall and have been flowering for several weeks, but have lots of flowers to come which, sadly, won't all make it now.

I'll try some earlier next year

The earliest flowers have just a few petals left on the "bottom" of the balls - do you think they were early enough to set some seed? They look very green (not grown them before, so no idea what to expect.)

They've done an excellent job of looking Jungle-like though - dense and tall.

Hahahaha... just looked back through my records and it was you that sent me the seed in the spring. Well, they've been really superb. I don't think I would have selected them to grow from a catalogue, so I'm truly grateful to you for introducing me to them

 

The pot was huddled up in a group against a south facing wall next to the air brick. Last years foliage was badly frost burnt come the spring.
This winter it'll be in the garage with the Iochroma et al.

 

Thanks Kristen.

I was thinking, as I wrote my post, that sowing early may only be relevent to my climate which will be colder than yours. You have proved the point that they can reach 8 feet from a March sowing. Sowing earlier may not make them flower much earlier. This year has been so cold that, I think, everyone's plants (Leonotis and others) are flowering late.

I was looking at mine today, and they are not very close to seed. When the whole flowering sphere turns brown, you should be able to shake it and see seed fall out. Incidentally, it is quoted in a number of places as a tender perennial rather than an annual. In the past, I have overwinter one in a frost free summerhouse, but it never came back. But this year, as an experiment, I will lift a few and keep them warmer under my low level grow lights, inside the house. I will be interested to see what happens. I have also taken some cuttings both in water and in compost.

Its so easy from seed that there is not much point, but you never know - they could be 16 feet next year.

 

I first grew this last year on your recommendation Peter, prior to that I had been growing L. leonorus, classed as a perrenial, but I could only get it to flower in November just before the first frosts killed it.

I'm sure last year your Leonotis, Peter, (name escapes me just now), flowered from late July, and was full of seed by now.
I was unlikely to have sown the seed before March in the greenhouse.
I was slightly complacent this year, as it did so well last year, and may have not kept it
undercover long enough.
July was very cold and wet this year though, and I regard July as the main growing month for plants.

 

Mine were not planted out in my photos taken on 27-Jun, but definitely were sometime before 04-Jul, so were under cover (or well protected) until pretty late - so I may have got lucky on that front. I will sow some, at least, early next year.

 

Pete - I may be wrong about sowing Leonotis nepetifolia early. Its just that there was one year when I sowed some in January and they did very well and I sowed a second batch later and they did very badly. However, it could have been the old problem that Christopher Lloyd wrote about - that if you put some tender plants such as Cleome and Cosmos out when its too cold they sulk and never grow properly. My second batch never got above 2 feet - maybe it was just sulking.

I think L. nepetifolia flowers a bit late but in the past, by this time, I would have had plenty of blooms and then plenty of seed. I am colder than most people here, and also on cold clay, so I would regard August and even September as being my best growing months. Matthew Wilson, when he was curator at RHS Harlow Carr just down the road from me, said something very similar on television.

 

I've kept one back in a pot in the greenhouse and it is yet to bloom (all the plants outdoors have bloomed bar one) so I'll trim the top and overwinter it in the shed. There are plenty of sideshoots on it so I'm wondering if it'll get "bushy" in the same way that a Cleome will.

 

See also:
What's looking exotic in November 2012
What's Looking Good - Month-by-month Index